Manager Joe Girardi said on Monday that after discussing the fifth-starter candidates, the Yankees plan to either reduce the five-man field or declare a winner as early as today or tomorrow. Phil Hughes is the huge favorite, considering he was the leader heading into Monday’s action, then drew effusive praise from Girardi following his 41⁄3-inning performance against the Phillies in Clearwater.

The other candidates are Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre.

“We have in a sense one spot in the rotation, three in the bullpen,” Girardi said.

As of now, the strong inclination is Chamberlain will be the eighth-inning set-up man, bridging the game to Mariano Rivera. That would allow the seventh inning to be handled by a combination of righty David Robertson and lefty specialist Damaso Marte, as well as possibly righty Chan Ho Park.

Aceves could replicate his Ramiro Mendoza-esque jack-of-all-trades role — possible spot starter, possible one-batter relief, possible two-inning man if a starter only goes five innings. Mitre could handle the long-relief role. Chad Gaudin — who reportedly was put on waivers yesterday — will likely be traded or released if nobody ends up claiming him off waivers.

“[The eighth-inning job is] something we’re going to have to talk about too,” Girardi said. “To see how the guys do. And obviously what Marte did for us when he came back last year and he threw very well. Robbie threw very well. Hughes has had success in that role. Joba’s had success in that role. We believe there’s plenty of options there. It’s just ironing out this fifth spot first.”

And one interesting point that Girardi made is how valuable the Yankees pen is to the team because of the 19 games each the Yankees play annually against the Red Sox, Rays, etc. Those contests tend to wear pitchers out or feature a lot of matchup usage.

“Bullpen’s very important to us as well,” he said. “Because we get in grind-em-out games in our division a lot, so that bullpen is very important.”

When he’s been a member of that bullpen, Chamberlain has appeared in relief for 50 regular-season games, posting a dazzling 1.50 ERA and racking up 79 strikeouts in just 60 innings. Batters have hit just .182 against him.

Chamberlain insists that it doesn’t matter to him whether he’s in the rotation or the pen.

The drive for 5

THE FAVORITE

* Phil Hughes — Righty has fared decently this spring, posting a 4.15 ERA in four games while striking out 10 in 13 innings. Says he feels this is the most prepared he’s ever been to be a successful major-league starter. In career as starter, 23-year-old is 8-9 with a 5.22 ERA in 28 games.

THE CONTENDERS

* Joba Chamberlain — Has had a brutal spring, with a 16.20 ERA in three games (albeit only 62⁄3 innings) with more walks (seven) than strikeouts (five). Has excelled in relief throughout career thanks to fastball/slider combination. Good bet he’s eighth-inning man.

* Alfredo Aceves — Versatile righty who was dynamite last year, going 10-1 with a 3.54 ERA, working almost exclusively in relief. Can go long or short. Good spring with a 3.77 ERA in the most innings any Yankee has pitched in the Grapefruit League (141⁄3).

* Sergio Mitre — Righty sinkerballer has a career 5.56 ERA with three different teams (Cubs, Marlins, Yanks), though he’s had an excellent spring, putting up a 3.21 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 14 innings. Likely to be the Yankees’ long man.